Getting in the Holiday Spirit

I have a feeling our Christmas tree is not long for this world. The older cats have already come to terms with the fact that the tree bites back, but all the kittens seem determined to take down the beast. Splinter in particular has a personal vendetta against the tree, and has torn off a few branches and claimed many of the ornaments as her own in just one day. Fortunately my family has a yearly "competition" amongst the animals to see which one will be the winner in "ruining Christmas" .... not that we really believe any of them ruin Christmas, if anything they keep it interesting, but inevitably one of them always destroys something - whether it be the presents, tree or holiday dinner is the big mystery.
And btw, the ornaments are all felt (intentional cat proofing...) and the base has been designed to stop them from drinking the tree water!!

Tree inspection

Splinter planning her attack

Sizing up the enemy

James goes in for a closer look...

 

A Pet Friendly Thankgiving

With Thanksgiving preparations in full swing for tomorrow's big feast, it's important to keep pet safety in mind!!! There are many foods that are harmful to our 4 legged friends that are in most of our holiday favorites.

Here's some helpful tips posted on Petplan.com:


Posted by Dr. Kim Smyth on November 16 2011
Staff Veterinarian and Pet Health Writer of Petplan

November is a time to count our blessings, and as you’re preparing your Thanksgiving feast and sitting down to eat, follow these safety tips to keep you and your pets far away from the vet clinic this season:

Bird is the Word

Turkey is the main attraction at Thanksgiving, and your pets will put on their cutest faces to tempt you into giving them a bite or two. Remember that raw or undercooked turkey can harbor salmonella, which can cause the same disastrous gastrointestinal affects in our pets as it does in us.

A Side of Danger

Onions and garlic have a supporting role in stuffing and other side dishes, but can be dangerous when ingested by our pets, especially cats. In our feline friends, onion ingestion can lead to hemolysis (or destruction) of red blood cells, leading to dangerous anemia.

Ditch the Table Scraps

We tend to overeat at Thanksgiving, but overindulging our pets with table scraps can lead to severe inflammation of the pancreas called pancreatitis, which can be severe enough to warrant hospitalization and can be fatal. Too much of a good thing can also cause unwanted gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhea and vomiting.

If you MUST treat your four-legged friends to a taste of Thanksgiving, stick to a bite or two of pet-safe veggies like broccoli or carrots, or a small taste of plain turkey. Consider putting these morsels into a Kong or other food-releasing toy while the family sits down to eat. Your pet will get a treat, and you’ll get to enjoy dinner without a beggar at your feet! For even more healthy fun, you can try your hand at preparing one of these pet-friendly Thanksgiving recipes.

Take Out the Trash
Keep track of the trash. Pets are notorious for trying to “clean up” after us, so make sure the lid stays on the trash can. If you’ve partaken in the new trend of deep-frying your turkey, keep the used oil way out of reach of your pet. One patient I will never forget is the dog who discovered a vat of used turkey-frying oil. What a mess!

Be thankful for the things you have, including the health of your four-legged family members. Follow the tips above to help stay thankfully away from the nearest veterinary emergency center!

Holiday Rescues

The Cat Network has an amazing program pulling kittens from Animal Services and transporting them to a rescue group in Maryland where they are adopted into loving homes. Since cats don't breed year round up north like they do in South Florida, there is always a need for more kittens up there (with one of the best adoption rates I've seen). On November 16th 86 kittens were pulled from the overcrowded shelter and transported to Maryland, where they have since been adopted. The rescue is asking for more kittens as soon as possible, so a last minute trip has been planned for the Sunday following Thanksgiving. Because of the holidays there is a shortage of foster homes available, without which these kittens cannot be rescued from the shelter and given the happy homes they deserve. So, in the spirit of the holidays, Adam has agreed for us to foster a litter for the week until they can be transported up north. We'll get a bundle of about 4 kittens, anywhere from 8-12 weeks, who have all been fully vetted. I can't wait for our kitten package to be delivered tomorrow, and to be able to help these little fuzz balls on their way to their forever homes. It's such a simple way to help, but it means the world to the kittens (their life depends on it!)!

Here is a picture of the last batch on their way to Maryland:

And some of the kittens on earlier trips this year:

To learn more about the amazing rescue in Maryland, visit: Last Chance Rescue
Donations are always more than welcome, and go to helping save these animals from horrible fate!!!

A Thief Among Us

It's quite possible that I spoil James too much, but as the sole survivor of his litter I feel it's my duty to do so (mostly because I'm so thankful to have him!!). That being said, he's become a bit "assertive" for lack of a better word. Not only does he cry like he's dying if he's ever left alone without his humans, but he also thinks it's perfectly okay to climb up on you while you're eating and steal the food right out of your hand (and sometimes out of your mouth as you're about to bite down... that was more than a little weird!). We've started using the "penny jar technique" with him - making noise with a jar filled with pennies when he's attempting to steal food, in the hopes of scaring him off (cats don't like the loud sound it makes). At first it worked well, but then he got too fearful, and now he pretty much doesn't care about the jar anymore. Soon we'll be looking for new ways to keep James at bay while we're eating (Adam says I need to push him away and then ignore him, but if I'm being totally honest I do actually like the attention... James loves to snuggle up to whoever he's trying to steal food from). In the meantime, I saw this picture and totally thought of James (although seriously, James doesn't ask like this cat - he just takes what he wants and runs off before you can catch him):

Catvertising

It's true, I have seen a lot more ads with cats in them lately, but honestly I thought I was one of the "special few" who actually really enjoyed seeing them. Turns out I was very wrong (which is probably why I'm not a wildly successful ad agent)!!! The cats are making a big furry leap into mainstream advertising, with surprising results. Now if we could only find some way to translate the advertising success into sterilization and adoption success!!!

CATVERTISING IN ACTION

Traveling Cat

Have you heard of the world traveling cat?? It's so cute I can't stand it, and I dream that one day one of my kitties will be so kind as to travel the world with me!! It would be so awesome, although I don't think any of my current fuzzy freaks would sit still for that long...!!

World Traveling Kitty

• Written By: Susan Thixton

Kitty is perhaps the most adventurous cat in the world. She is the beloved cat pet of a French couple/explorers, Guillaume and Laetitia who are on a mission to travel from Miami, US to Ushuaia, Argentina purely on foot. They are currently in Columbia, heading south.  Pictures and video of Kitty's adventures.

Their cat, Kitty, is often seen resting in the backpack carried by Guillaume while they are hiking down the road. They even set up a little umbrella on the backpack to give the kitty some shade from the sun.

If you can read French, you can visit the couples website and read about their adventures.  http://www.turnoftheworld.com/

The Adventures of an Adoptee....

Much has happened since little Lemur was adopted by her forever family... she's completely made herself at home among her two humans, three puppy friends, and mentor pirate kitty. She's also gotten into a bit of trouble, and claimed her rightful place as princess!

Here are a few pictures of Lemur being Lemur - a strange little kitty with a funny personality and a beautiful look!

Lemur loves IKEA

Helping with Construction Work...

Enjoying a little dog food and taunting the dog at the same time....

Lemur loves to craft!

Crafting...

 

 

and more crafting!

As you can see Lemur is a very helpful and creative kitten! I think it's also pretty plain to see she's an incredibly happy cat:) I'm so glad she went to the best home possible, and more importantly that it also happens to be my BF's house so I can visit my little Lemur whenever I need some kitty kisses!!
Hooray for fantastic adoption stories!!!!!!!

Yeap...

I admit it, I'm a huge dork. I have a serious love (bordering on obsession) with Harry Potter, and as such I'm incredibly excited for the release of the last movie on blu-ray. I know it's not much, and that I've already seen it multiple times in the theater, but it's all I have left so I'll cling to it with everything I've got.
I know I'm also not alone in this love, so I won't bother justifying it here. Instead I'll just post some of my favorite Harry Potter cats while I rush out to get my movie and re-watch all 8 of them in a row...

And seriously, how amazing is this... someone had The Burrow custom built as a house for their cats:

Nope

You can't do the dishes on my bed ...

Kitty Rules:

What do you do when you want to lie down but someone else is lying in your spot? You simply lie on top of them of course...!!  

 

This beautiful, smart, independent girl is looking for her forever home too... how could anyone resist such a forward thinker like Ari??!!!!

A good deed in time for the holidays...

The Cat Network is the featured organization on Groupon this week, with all $10 donations going to help fund the foster-kitten care packages!!

More than 60 million cats currently live on the streets in the United States, according to data collected by the Feral Cat Coalition. If these cats are not spayed or neutered, they can act out with violence and breed rapidly, prompting many shelters to trap and euthanize them. The Cat Network of Florida supports the live sterilization of rescued cats and kittens, and finds them permanent homes with adoption-referral efforts and a comprehensive system of cat foster care.

To help improve the live release rate of feral cats in the Miami-Dade County area, The Cat Network’s transfer program places cats from shelters into foster homes, and then removes them to animal-rescue groups with high adoption rates. Foster families shelter cats for 10 days, feeding them, playing with them, and providing any necessary medical treatment. The Cat Network would like to provide kitten care packages to help foster families ease the cats’ transitions into their temporary homes. Each kitten care package contains a blanket and enough canned and dry cat food to feed between six and eight cats for a week.

Join G-Team and donate $10 to help foster families care for feral cats and kittens. If G-Team members raise $300, then The Cat Network of Florida can fund 15 foster-kitten care packages with food and blankets. Each additional $20 raised will fund another foster care package.

To help fund this noble cause, please visit:

Unlike traditional Groupon deals, G-Team campaigns typically don't offer you a "discount" or "savings." So "buyer" beware—when you click "Buy" to donate your time or money to a worthwhile G-Team cause, the only discount you may receive is 100% off free, priceless karma.

Tailgating

What do you take with you to the game???

Open a cooler in the kitchen in our house and Zadie will climb inside and make herself at home. I don't know what it is about coolers that she loves so much, but it never fails that her internal "cooler radar" will go off as soon as one is in the house and she'll come running. Fortunately for her this one was still empty, but she has experienced the post-game cooler full of melted ice water.... funny for us, not so funny for her.

Birthday Awesomeness!!

Yesterday was my birthday (I will leave out my official age) and I got the most amazing present ever (according to people and kitties alike)... my Mom and Adam got together and bought me a fancy pants iPad, which I haven't put down since. James also took a shine to the pretty new friend, and helped me test out the picture app.

iPad and kitty snuggles... who could ask for more??!! 

 
Well, I could ask for better picture taking skills, but this was just a test after all....

Shut the front door

Now that the air has gotten a little cooler (hooray for fall weather.... with lovely low 80s/high 70s temperatures) we've been able to turn off the AC and open all the doors and windows.The cats have all taken on a new level of excitement with this crazy outside world and all the crazy smells and sounds that come with it. The front door seems to be of particular interest, including climbing the screen all the way to the top for what I can only assume is a better view.

Little piggies

Fourth meal is a favorite in our house, with all the kitties lined up like little piggies for their midnight feeding. 

All in a row...